ELECTRIC MAPS

1. ELECTRIC MAPS 1st CMC Pamplona Sept. 15th 2004 Antonietta Lombardi Scuola elementare Bernalda (MT) Italy Alfredo Tifi, ITIS “Divini” S. Severino M (MC) Italy (spokesman) Work supported by DSCHOLA, Turin Italy

2. Beginnings + context • Electric maps were conceived “by chance”, in a fourth grade class of primary school. • Pupils were practised with concept mapping (paper and pen), • pupils were playing with self-made electric circuits and wired card quizzes…

3. Circuit game (science activities) 1/2

4. Circuit game (science activities) 2/2

5. Wire card quizzes: a bright idea of children

6. Gallery of Sample Maps

7. How children built early Electric Maps • drawn all node boxes of a cmap in pencil, on the front cardboard; • then drawn little rectangles, for subsequent making of holes, and wrote down concept labels into the nodes; • marked the boxes borders, pressing down with a sharp pen tip, to make a print on the identical cardboard lying behind; • re-drawn node boxes over the back cardboard. Connection lines were made with large aluminium strips and glued. • Pupils cut holes from the front cardboard, superimposed the two cardboard again, checked up that aluminium was visible behind every hole. Electric connections were interrupted in “bridge” nodes; • closed up the cardboards, sealed borders with glue. The “electric map” was ready to be completed. gallery

8. “Solving” Electric Maps puzzle 1/2

9. “Solving” Electric Maps Puzzle 2/2 • “Electric Maps” is a powerful tool for reinforce meaningfulness of relations in two ways: first, through making “analogical” links for each related couple of concepts; second, when other mates search for link phrases and syntaxes. • In the last works pupils prepared electric maps leaving out some concept labels, but writing a link phrase linked to the empty node, so leaving always one of three elements of every proposition to be inferred by puzzling mates.

10. Results (1/2) Like previous concept mapping, the electric maps activity allowed us to: • assess the knowledge of pupils • highlight their cognitive processes • check how they master the concepts and the relative relations of hierarchical inclusion • testify to the integration of new knowledge in the pre-existing cognitive structure

11. Results (2/2) More than in the usual concept mapping, in the electric maps activity: • the pupils asked repeatedly to build the electric maps for all subject areas • We got a good level of interaction in the classroom groups, where children often corrected each other and decided strategies. • Children needed to think of pairs’ mind processes, so gaining higher levels of metacognition for themselves • This can be seen as a profitable self-evaluation method.

12. Expectations • We expect to pass from an educational path that was born by chance, to a similar but intentional plan. • We will benefit by CmapTools for design-print cloze maps (lacking of concept labels and/or connection lines and phrases) • We will have to apply a removable paper sheet where to draw lacking lines and write words, to make cloze cmaps reusable for other children.

13. Info to: lombardi53@aliceposta.it tifialf@tin.it Conclusions For each class, the electric maps activity has taken only four hours in two days, in the last month of the past school year. We believe that, given proper pre-requirements, every school could practice this challenging educational proposal and innovative route to concept mapping.